Dispensing-machine.



H. 5. ERWIN. DISPENSING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 20, 1912.

Patented May 5, 1914. my 3 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

[00am]:- EEK/7W5]! M ,J' [Ir wil i Fit/Jesse H. E. ERWIN. DISPENSINGMACHINE. APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 20, 19-12.

1,095,31 9. Patented May 5, 1914.

3 BHEETS-SHEET 2.

III

H. E. ERWIN. DISPENSING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 20, 1912.

1,095,319, Patented May 5,1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Wines-ses: [al en/2902': .EETZrwz'n 3 ziszddfiruqyg UNITED STATES,

PATENT OFFICE.

HERBERT E.' RRW'IN, on NEW BRITAIN, COIQNEC'IICUT, AssIeNoR To THE NEWBRITAIN MACHINE COMPANY, OF NEW BRITAIN, coNNEoTIoUT, A CORPORATION OFCONNECTICUT.

DISPENSING-MAHINE Patented May 5, 1914.

Application filed November 20, 1912. Serial No. 732,443.

To all who-m it may concern: Be it known that I, HERBERT E. ERWIN, acitizen of the United States, residing at New Britain, in the county ofHartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Dispensing-Machines, of which the "following, is aspecification.

This invention relates to dispensing machines.

' A dispensing machine involving my invention can be employed withadvantage for holding and delivering preferably at will, various kindsof articles, although those forms of embodiment of the invention which Ihave selected for illustration in the drawings accompanying and formingpart of the present specification, are primarily adapted for thereception and discharge of' pa er drinking cups.

ne of the principal objects of the invention is the provision of simpleand effective means for sustaining a stack of the articles to be vendedand for securing their proper delivery one at a time or in other desiredorder.

As already intimated I have shown several of the many convenient formsof embodiment of the invention in said drawings,

and I will describe these several forms in detail in the followingdescription, so that those skilled in the art can practise theinvention. I do not restrict myself to this showing, however, as I maydepart therefrom in several respects within the scope of the inventiondefined by the claims following said description. As will be inferredtherefore, the invention resides ratherln certain broad relationswhereby a stack of cups or other articles can be adequately sup-- portedand removed. Although the machine is preferably organized for deliveringone cup or other object at a time, this in all cases may not beessential, as there may be .instances where I should desire to dispenses'imultanously two, three or more cups on each actlon of the machine.

In any event, however, the construction is such that accu rate actionfollows.

Referring to said drawings: Figure 1 is a front elevation of adispensing machine involving my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation ofthe same showing by dotted lines the door or flap as open. Fig. 3 is avertical section from front to rear of the lower part of the machine.Fig. 4: is a hori- ZOIltalSQCtlOIl on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a slightly different form of the machine,the section being taken on a line corresponding with the line 5-5 ofFig. 4. Fig. 6 is a similar view of a still further form. Fig. 7. is ahorizontal section on the line 7-7 of Fig. 6. F g. 8 1s adetailed viewof a further form. Figs. 9 and 10 are detail views at right angles toeach other -of another form, and, F g. 11 is a view correspondingpractically with Fig. 9 of another form.

LIke characters refer to like parts throughout the several views, whichit will be observed are on different scales.

As will be assumed-from what has already been said a dispensing machinecomprising my invention, can be utilized in several different ways,although it is of prime utility.

when employed for receiving and delivering drlnklng cups which areordinarily'placed withln the machine in the form of a stack and whichare .as a matter of preference,

thattype known as free; that is to say.

no coin is necessary to obtain a cup. It is a simple matter to providecoin controlled mechanism, for governing the action of the dispensingmechanism or equivalent part as is now done in other dispensingmachines.

The different parts of the machine as well as the stack, are inclosed orhoused in any suitable container such as that denoted in a general wayby 2, said container'including in its make-upthe shell or casing 3 madein the form of a box, and a tube A of glass or other transparentmaterial, the top of the casing or boxing 3 having an opening tocomparatively closely receive the tube 4 which is thereby steadied in asimple manner, accidental vertical movement of the tube being preventedby the spring fingers or latches 5 of which there may be any suitablenumber, fastened to the top of the casing or boxing 3 and engaging theannular bead 6 on the circumference of said tube. This glass tube aswill hereinafter appear partially contains the stack of cups, the lowerend of the stack extending into the casing or boxing 3 and preferablybeing supported therein. When the cups have all been removed the tube orcap 4 is lifted from place and when a new stack is introduced the saidtube or cap l'will be applied.

To steady the stack of cups in the container any suitable means may beprovided,

the band or ring 7 being shown for this purpose and beinginclosed in thecasing or boxing 3 the two parts being spaced'from each other a shortdistance as shown in Fig. 3 and the steadying member or band 7 having abase flange 8 extending outward therefrom and in turn having one or morependent flanges 9 secured by screws as 10 or otherwise to the body ofthe bowing or casing 3 which is shown as having a drop down hinged door11 by opening which access may be had to the stack of nested cups inorder to reach the lowermost one thereof. The door or flap 11 isnormally held closed by a spring 12 and is equipped at its front endwith a finger or thumb piece 13 to facilitate its operation.

The means for supporting the stack of cups may .vary decidedly as tocharacter, although the same preferably involves one or morestack-supporting devices movable by a pull on the stack to release thelowermost cup from engagement by said stack supporting device. Whenthere are several of said devices, they are preferably arranged inannular order or approximately annular relation. One or more wheelsconstitutes a satisfactory means for supporting the stack, and when usedit or they will be operative by a pull on the lowermost cup of the stackto permit the separation of said cup from said stack, the wheel meansbeing then adapted to uphold the stack when the lowermost cup iswithdrawn therefrom. As a means for supporting the stack the wheels 14can be advantageously employed, four of such wheels being shown andbeing of toothed form. Although this type of wheel is of advantage, itis not essential that it be employed as I will hereinafter describe awheel which will perform the same functions and which is not toothed. Inlike manner the number of teeth in the wheel when this type is provided,is not so important, depending somewhat upon the nature of the cup. Inthe form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to i inclusive the wheels 14have iour teeth, thus adapting them to a cup havmg a rat-her deepcircumferential brim, while the wheels 15 shown in Fig. 5 have eightteeth to thereby better conform to a brim of rather shallow depth. Theonly difference in construction therefore between the form ofmachineshown in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive and that illustrated in Fig. 5 isin the wheels, and for this reason corresponding characters except asregards the wheels, will be used in these several views. The stacksteadyin band 7 receives the lower end of the stack, the lowermost cupof the stack extending below the band and also depending from thesupporting wheels so as to easily be reached when the door or flap 11 isopened. The stack steadying band 7 is slotted at approximatelyequidistant points as at 16 to receive the stack supporting wheels 14,part of the stock out from the band in forming the slots being extendedoutward as at 17 to provide bearings for the several wheels 14:.

In Fig. 3 teeth of the four wheels 14 are horizontally alined and extendunder the outwardly projecting brim of the lowermost cup of the stackand also constrict or embrace the latter to thus support the same. Toobtain a cup the door 11 will be opened and the lowermost cup will begrasped and the stack as an entirety will be drawn downward by suchpull, thus rotating simultaneously the four wheels 14 and bringing whatwere the upwardly extending teeth of said wheels under the brim of thesecond cup and at the same time causing such teeth to bind around thesecond cup constituting a part of the stack. When what were thehorizontally disposed teeth of the wheels 14 have nearly assumed a lowervertical position, the lowermost cup will be freed entirely from theholding orrestraining action of the wheels so that it is only necessaryto overcome the slight frictional hold which this cup has on the oneimmediately above it to wholly free it from the stack. This action canberepeated until the stack is entirely depleted and the cups will be bysuch construction dispensed only one at a time, although this conditioncan be varied by changing the relation of the teeth for there may beinstances where it may be desired to dispense simultaneously two cups,while in others it may be required to deliver three or other number atthe same time.

The only difference as already stated be tween what is shown in Fig. 5and what is illustrated by Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive is that the wheels inFig. 5 have a larger number of teeth than those shown in the precedingviews. In Fig. 5 there are two sets of teeth cooperating to grip andsupport the stack. When the wheels 15 are turned one step as 1t mightproperly be considered to free the lowermost cup a second pair of teethof each wheel will be brought into position to constrict and therebyuphold the stack.

In Figs. 6 and 7 the stack steadying band 1s denoted by 20 and the stacksupporting and cup releasing wheels are denoted by 21. There may be anynumber of these wheels 2i each of them as shown consisting of two disksclamped together and between which is arranged a yieldable body or rimportion, any of the gelatin or soft rubber substances answers in thisconnection. The wheels 21 support the stack and their peripheries willbe lndented somewhat bythe brims of the nested cups so as thus to upholdthe stack .stack forcing the by a constricting action or embracingsupport. When the stack is drawn downward a sufiicient extent to carrythe lowermost cup entirely free from the holding effect of the wheels21, the lowermost cup can be readily pulled from place, although theremaining on s constituting the stack proper will be e ectually upheldby the wheels 21.

In Fig. 8 the numeral 18 denotes the stack steadying band associatedwith which is a single wheel 19. It is conceivable that the stack can besupported and its lowermost cup released by the single wheel 19, but Iprefer to employ a plurality of such wheels.

In Figs. 9 an 10 is another form adapted especially for receiving anddispensing cups which have no external brims, flanges or any other meansby which they can be upheld, the stack in this particular constructionbeing held solely by the constricting, embracing or clamping action ofthe wheels 23. Except as to these wheels the construction of the deviceis exactly like that already described. In this particular form, meansare provided for preventing overthrow or accidental motion of thewheels'23 and the coiled springs 24: on the shafts of said wheels answersatisfactorily in this connection. In all cases the wheels arepreferably free or relatively so; that is to say the can be easilyturned by a pull on the stac and in Figs. 9 and 10 I prefer that somemeans he provided as by said springs to prevent unnecessary movement ofthe wheels and also to prevent the weight of the same downward.

In all the forms thus far described the stack has been upheld primarilyby being embraced or pressed inward at different points or as I havetermed it by a constricting action. In Fig. 11 I have shown aconstruction wherein there is no such action, the teeth of the wheels 25upholding the stack by engaging under the circumferential beads of thecups. In this case means are necessary to insure regular or uniform stepby step movement of the wheels 25 and the springs 26 can be very wellutilized in this connection.

What I claim is:

1. A dispensing machine comprising a. plurality of wheels in cooperativerelation with each other, the peripheries thereof being soft, saidwheels jointly constrictively embracing and thus supporting a stack ofdrinking cup and being 'rotative by force applied to the stack torelease the lowermost cup from the holding efi'ect of said wheels.

2. A dispensing machine comprising a relatively fixed band for thereception of a stack of drinking cups, and a plurality of wheelsarranged in approximately annular order, the band being slotted for thepassage of the wheels and said Wheels jointly constrictively embracingand thus supporting said stack.

3. A dispensing machine comprising a band for the passage of a stack ofnested drinking cups, and a plurality of toothed wheels supportedexteriorly of the band, the

band being slotted for the passage of the wheels and said wheels jointlyconstrictively embracing said stack.

4. A dispensing means for supporting a stack of nested drinking cups,with the lower portion of the stack extending below said rotarysupporting means, said rotary supporting means being operable to releasethe lower portion of the stack, by a pull directly applied to said lowerportion and being adapted to support .the remainder of the stack whensaid lower portion has beenremoved.

In testimony whereof I aflix my slgnature 1n presence of two witnesses.

HERBERT E. ER'WIN.

Witnesses ROBERT S. Brown, H. H. PEARE.

machine having rotary

